


Finding a Ruby in the Darkness

by la_reine_rouge



Series: Adventures in Salaria [5]
Category: No Fandom, Original Work
Genre: Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-10-17 10:37:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17558813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/la_reine_rouge/pseuds/la_reine_rouge
Summary: Before she was the General, Cairo lived a life radically different to the one she has now. Had she not been rescued that day, her future would have been dramatically changed - for worse, instead of better.





	Finding a Ruby in the Darkness

**Author's Note:**

> Morrigan was general before Cairo; he trained her up, taught her everything he knew, and then retired from the larger position that would warrant him going to war as often as necessary in order to stay closer to his king. This is the moment Morrigan fell in love with his darling little girl.
> 
> No actual abuse is mentioned, but it is implied due to her reactions and appearance.

It was dark as night in the pit, a single torch lighting the way. The large man had to duck at one point to avoid cracking his skull on the low ceiling. He walked past poor souls cowering in the shadows, thankful he had left his king above ground. There was no way they would walk out of here without half of them if he hadn’t. Quin was far too kind for his own good. 

As it was, Morrigan was rather displeased about his presence here. The castle did not need any more maids and it certainly did not need any slaves – what sort of king would announce his distaste for the practice and then buy his own later? He had told the king that no good would come from their coming here, but naturally Quintano had insisted. The guard had been allowed no say against him, which was a naturally upsetting situation but one he was not unfamiliar with. “Keep an open mind, Morg,” he’d said, “you’re going to agree with me when you see her.”

Right. Sure. 

The spindly man before him was wringing his hands as he drew up alongside a small cage, one no bigger than what would be considered acceptable for a poached plainer cub. It was then that the General of the Armed Forces knew what his king had meant. Inside, her ankles chained through the wires of the cage and connected to the wall, sat a small child. She was shrouded in darkness, but already he could see the flickers of fire in her hair. Without asking for any type of permission, he grabbed the torch from the slaver’s hand and walked forward, crouching just outside the wire door and peering in. The way she flinched and tried to hide herself in the cold metal made him bite off a curse. This child was the same age as his princess, the darling of the castle and the apple of both his and her father’s eyes, and seeing this child so tormented like this drove him near mad.

“Why is she caged?” Morrigan was surprised at how dark his voice was.

With a nervous laugh, the owner sidled closer. “Well, you see, General, she is quite the troublemaker. Very strong, very determined. She’s been hard to handle, so I’ve been having to cage her so she doesn’t get any ideas.” The leer was prevalent in his voice. “Isn’t she a cute one, though?”

Her body stiffened, and Morrigan was spinning on the much smaller man before he even realized what he was doing, one thick forearm coming up and planting itself in the man’s throat. “I advise you hold such thoughts to yourself from this point on, good sir, or I may be forced to remove your tongue from your head.”

The man’s response was choked off but there was no doubt he understood. Morrigan remained as he was for a moment more before backing off with a short gesture towards the cage. “Release her.”

With a frantic nod and a choke, the slave master quickly bustled forward with jangling keys. The poor child flinched as he opened the door, trying to press herself further into the back of the cage, and Morrigan hauled the other man out of his way by the back of his shirt. One large, calloused hand was shoved into the weaselly face to receive the keys, and then the General of Salaria crouched in the dirt. He was careful as he reached for her, hushing like he was speaking to a scared animal, as he unlocked the cuffs around her too-thin ankles. She immediately drew them back, her dirty arms coming around to protect herself, but Morrigan was having none of it. 

"Hello, little one.” He made sure he kept his voice light, though it was hard with his naturally rough voice. Too much time spent yelling at his king, probably. “What is your name?”

Her eyes were dark and wide, worried, darting between him and the owner, but Morrigan shifted just enough to block him from her view and smiled at her again. Finally, she uncurled just enough that her knees were no longer shoved against her face, just enough to whisper out a single word through lips so chapped they were ripping. “Cairo.”

It took him a moment to realize that was her name, and immediately Morrigan was struck by how well it suited her. Short and sweet, derived from the land of fierce warrior goddesses. If she was as much a fighter as the slaver said... He extended his hand to her with yet another smile. “Come along then, Cairo. Come to me.” His eyes were soft. “Let’s get you some place safe.”

There was a brief moment where he worried he would have to go in and drag her out, because he would be damned by Ahreha herself if he left this poor child here, but then one dirty hand reached for him. Tiny fingers curled around his own. Her eyes, liquid and entrancing, stared into his own. Morrigan was careful as he pulled her from the cage, drew her out into the light of his torch. She was horrifically scared, thin, dirty. But her eyes… they burned him. There was fire in this small creature. All she needed was to be given the kindling to turn the embers into an inferno.

The slave master was wringing his hands again, his motions nervous for a different reason than before. “I take it the king would like to buy her?”

A tick started in the general’s jaw. Morrigan shoved the bag of coin into the man’s face with more force than was required, enough that it cracked against his chin. Cairo’s fingers tightened around his own, squeezing with surprising force, and he looked down to see her staring at her former owner with that fire smoldering in her gaze. It was all he could do to not grab her up and squish her to him like he would his princess; he assumed she wouldn’t take too kindly to that. Instead, he held her hand just a little tighter and walked her to the stairs, but he couldn’t resist one parting remark. 

“When I drop by again, you had best have better confinements for the rest of them. Otherwise, we’ll have issues.”

His only regret was that he never saw the man’s face in response, but it didn’t matter when those little fingers held on just a little bit tighter again. He helped her scale the stairs until she stumbled and almost went down to her knees on the hard concrete; then, despite her faint protests, Morrigan swept her up into his arms to rest her on his hip. Cairo tried to complain that she could walk, that she didn’t need to be carried, but even as he took another two steps he could feel her drooping against his shoulder. Suddenly, he was infinitely thankful that he left most of his armor at home; otherwise, he doubted the child would have even come to him, never mind resting against him.

The desert wind was bitter cold as they stepped out of the slave house, and immediately she shivered as she tried to bury herself deeper into him. Morrigan maneuvered her around just enough to tuck her under the thick cape his king had demanded he wear, despite it being far more ceremonial than necessary for this outing, and realized that yet again Quintano had given him a beneficial order. How rare. If the king had planned this whole thing out to the moment, the general would not have been surprised in the least.

He climbed into the waiting carriage, seating himself across from the aforementioned man. Quin had a smug expression on his face, one that immediately made Morrigan’s own smile drop like a stone in water.

“What?”

“So, do you agree with me now?”

Morrigan responded by turning his head to glare out the window… keeping his head angled just enough to watch her sleep out of the bottoms of his eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> So her origin here is pretty short, I'll likely expand on it in time, but this is what I've got so far so I decided to share. This is also the last extra snippet that I have prepared at this time, so it may take quite a bit longer to have another to share. 
> 
> If you, however, can think of anything you would like to read about involving my favorite ladies, please feel free to comment below! Do you want to know more about the Edari warriors, the princess Idris and her guardian Aur? Are you curious about the former assassin Delta and her favorite huntress Megaan? Do you just want more about Aranathi and Cairo? Any ideas are more than welcome!


End file.
